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Resourceful
Mother
She can
deal with anything.
By Lois
Wadsworth
THE DEEP END: Written,
produced and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Executive
produced by Robert H. Nathan. Cinematography, Giles Nuttgens. Editor,
Lauren Zuckerman. Production design, Kelly McGehee, Christopher Tandon.
Composer, Peter Nashel. Starring Tilda Swinton, with Jonathan Tucker,
Goran Visnjic, Peter Donat, Josh Lucas, Tamara Hope, Jordan Dorrance
and Raymond Barry. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2001. R. 99 minutes.
 |
|
An
interesting relationship develops between Alek (Goran Visnjic)
and Margaret (Tilda Swinton).
. |
|
A moody thriller, The Deep End tests the
resolve of a middle-class mother of a gay son to protect him from
a sexually interested older man. Set among wooded suburban houses
nestled around the rim of Lake Tahoe, the home of Margaret Hall (Tilda
Swinton) operates like a well-oiled machine. Her live-in father-in-law,
Jack Hall (Peter Donat), helps Margaret while her Navy commander husband
is away. The two younger children, Paige (Tamara Hope) and Dylan (Jordan
Dorrance), and Beau (Jonathan Tucker) must be driven here and there.
The movie starts in the middle of these everyday concerns,
but Margaret can't get rid of recurring images of Beau's wrecked car,
the flashing lights, and Beau sitting on the back of an ambulance.
She knows Beau was not alone the night of the accident, that his companion
was a Reno club owner named Darby Reese (Josh Lucas). Margaret goes
to Reese's club and tells him to stay away from her son. Reese laughs
in her face and cheekily asks for money. She leaves, shaken.
In this family, unpleasant emotions are stuffed; curiosity
is squelched; and on the surface, days click along nicely. But after
Margaret's encounter with Reese, she wants to talk to Beau. He clams
up. And later that night when she sees he's been injured, he refuses
to talk to her. The following morning when Margaret finds Reese's
murdered body on the beach behind the house, she believes Beau killed
him but never asks. Everyone notices Margaret's long absence that
morning, but no one talks about it. A few days later, when Reese's
body is discovered, Beau assumes his mother killed him.
Tension accelerates when two con men, Alek Spera (Goran
Visnjic) and Carlie Nagle (Raymond Barry), come to the house and demand
money to keep secret from the police a videotape of Beau and Darby
having sex. Margaret briefly watches the tape, which is devastating.
But over the following days as Aleck watches Margaret try to reach
her husband at sea and to come up with the money on her own, he forms
an attachment to her. Their relationship is one of glances and surprising
tenderness.
Swinton's performance is restrained and brilliant.
Always a fascinating onscreen presence, she's appealing here as a
suburban housewife stretched to her emotional limits. With one of
cinema's most wondrous faces -- translucent skin, a mouth not
generous but determined, intelligent eyes that miss nothing --
she's magnetic.
Filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel turn the
basic domestic melodrama into a noir thriller and give the film an
elegant look through a palette that changes from a dominant blue towards
a rich, warmer red over time. Water is omnipresent -- from the
deep blue depths of the lake to the sun-dappled, clear aqua near the
rock cove where the body is dumped, a drop from a faucet that slowly
forms and holds an image. While gay viewers will see the film in ways
that I cannot, I believe the mother's unwavering respect for her son's
gayness outweighs the representation of a gay scumbag.
Starts at the Bijou Friday, Sept. 14. Highest recommendations.
This
is the End
America's
soul journey.
By Lois
Wadsworth
APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX:
Produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Co-produced by Fred
Roos, Gray Frederickson and Tom Sternberg. Written by John Milius
and Francis Ford Coppola. Narration by Michael Herr. Cinematographer,
Vittorio Storaro. Production design, Dean Tavoularis. Editor, Richard
Marks. Sound design, Walter Murch. Music, Carmine Coppola and Francis
Ford Coppola. Apocalypse Now Redux version produced by Francis Ford
Coppola and Kim Aubry. Editor Walter Murch. Starring Martin Sheen,
Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Frederic Forrest, Laurence Fishburne,
Dennis Hopper, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall and Harrison Ford. Miramax
Films Release, 2001. R. 196 minutes (3 hours, 16 minutes).
 |
|
The
beginning of the end: Captain Willard (Martin Sheen).
. |
|
Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 hallucinogenic
Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now -- which became a
239-day odyssey in the Philippine jungle for those making it --
has been remastered and recut from original dailies, making this the
only master in existence. Twenty dye transfer prints by Technicolor
were among those released, but I was unable to determine if the gorgeous
print I saw at Portland's Lloyd Center Theater was one of them. I
was equally stymied about whether the film would ever play in our
area. The short answer is "Only if someone bids on it," but that's
unlikely because it's limited to three shows a day. But this film
is so spectacular that I urge you to get to Portland to see it if
you can.
Coppola released a working-print version of the film
for the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it shared the Palme d'Or
with Volker Schlondorf's The Tin Drum. The U.S. release was
first only in a 70-mm format that ran without main titles or end credits.
For the 35-mm release, Coppola ran the end credits over an explosion
of the Kurtz compound, which the film crew blew up and photographed.
Because they were required to remove the structures they had built
in the Philippines, "we decided to blow it up and photograph it,"
Coppola said. The new version has Coppola's preferred ending. It's
mine, too.
The 49 new minutes are mostly small scenes dropped
in here or there, including more time with Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall)
of the infamous "I love the smell of napalm" speech. Duvall cuts a
swaggering figure on the battlefield, both showing compassion toward
an injured child and displaying the edge of his madness by calling
in a bomb strike of a village known as "Charlie's Point" in order
to surf there. "Charlie don't surf," Kilgore notes.
Kilgore's enlarged role fleshes out this prickly officer,
but giving additional time to Kurtz's (Marlon Brando) infamous speech
about vacinating a village's children only to return to find a pile
of little cut-off limbs is far riskier. Kurtz knows that Captain Willard
(Martin Sheen) intends to terminate his command, and maybe this patent
lie is more evidence of his madness. It's the worm at the film's heart,
a black hole in an otherwise compellingly flawed but stunning film.
It's great to see both the new scenes and those seen
22 years ago, because the film is a masterpiece. Many great talents
have contributed to its success, but only Coppola could have made
it. John Milius wrote the film's first treatment. Vittorio Storaro's
cinematography is so beautiful it hurts. Sound designer and editor
Walter Murch makes the opening sequence even more memorable. Martin
Sheen's performance is luminous. Brando is still a misfit; Kilgore's
madness shows; Hopper is just right. Entirely new scenes -- upriver
at a French plantation where Willard is fed and loved and a follow-up
with the USO go-go dancers -- help humanize the men. The guys
on the boat that takes Willard upriver -- Chef (Frederic Forest),
the New Orleans saucier; Clean (Laurence Fishburne), the jive-talking
kid from the ghetto; ace surfer Lance B. Johnson (Sam Bottoms); and
Chief (Albert Hall), who loves his men -- become companions.
My highest recommendations.
OPENING
OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW
publication unless otherwise noted.
Bridget Jones' Diary: Renée Zellwegger
plays the neurotic but witty Londoner on the prowl for a man. Hugh
Grant's her boss, and Colin Firth is an old friend. All three give
excellent performances, especially Zellwegger. Sharon Maguire's directorial
debut. Script by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis.
Funnier on second viewing, this smart, good-hearted romp is highly
recommended. R. Movies 12.
Deep End, The: Scott McGehee and David Siegel's
excellent thriller stars the fabulous Tilda Swinton as a resourceful
suburban housewife. Jonathan Tucker plays her gay son, whom she's
trying to protect, and Goran Visnjic is a blackmailer who falls for
her. Highest recommendations. R. Bijou. See review.
Glass House, The: Psychological nightmare stars
Leelee Sobieski as an orphaned girl (and her brother) taken in by
her parents' best friends (Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard. PG-13.
Cinemark.
Hardball: Keanu Reeves plays a soft-spoken
baseball coach for an inner city middle school who helps the team
come together. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Hearts in Atlantis: Anthony Hopkins and Hope
Davis star in Scott Hicks' late-1950s adventure drama. Written by
William Goldman, based on Stephen King's novel. PG-13. Sneak Sat.
9/15 at 7:30 pm. Cinemark.
Osmosis Jones: Directed by Bobby and Peter
Farrelly with others, this live action/animated comedy goes inside
the body to the sites of the most yucky sites. Stars Bill Murray,
Molly Shannon and the voices of Chris Rock, David Hyde Pierce and
Laurence Fishburne. PG. Movies 12.
CONTINUING
A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Steven
Spielberg directs this film, a project of the late Stanley Kubrick,
that's set in a future filled with environmental catastrophes. Haley
Joel Osment plays an 11-year old android aware of his own existence
who wants to become a boy; Jude Law plays a sex toy android. Also,
Frances O'Connor and William Hurt. Imperfect gotta-see movie for newcomers
and second-timers. PG-13. See
review.
American Pie 2: Same cast -- Chris Klein,
Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas --
but a different director, J. B. Rogers, and a super-secretive writer,
Adam Herz. R. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Brother: "Beat" Takeshi Kitano stars in and
directs this Yakuza-in-LA tale of gang violence, blood ties and mobster
brotherhood. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times says Kitano
is "channeling Clint Eastwood through Toshiro Mifune with a little
bit of Buster Keaton thrown in." Not rated. Bijou.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin: WWII-era romance
stars Nic Cage as an Italian soldier and Penelope Cruz; it's set on
a gorgeous Greek island. Trailer shows zero chemistry between stars.
Unhappily, John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) directs. Also
stars John Hurt, Christian Bale, Irene Papas and David Morrissey.
R. Cinemark.
Curse of the Jade Scorpion, The: Woody Allen's
1940s comedy stars Allen, Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd, Elizabeth Berkeley,
Wallace Shawn, David Ogden Stiers and Charlize Theron. Allen's a NY
insurance investigator who gets involved in a crime caper. PG-13.
Cinema World.
Divided We Fall: Set in a Nazi-occupied Czech
village during WWII, film tracks the fortunes of an ordinary couple
who give refuge to a local Jewish man who's escaped from Theresienstadt
concentration camp. Understated and gently hopeful, comic portrayal
of wartime stress and how some souls respond to it. Highly recommended.
PG-13. Bijou. See
review.
Dr. Dolittle 2: Eddie Murphy is back as the
good doctor, but the animals have changed. They've become activists
who plan to go on strike to save their forest in Steve Carr's new
film. And they're hungry for sex advice. PG. Movies 12.
Evolution: David Duchovny and Julianne Moore
star in an Ivan Reitman summer comedy about pterodactyls and meteors.
PG-13. Movies 12.
Fast and Furious, The: Undercover cop (Paul
Walker) infiltrates gang-like LA street racing teams in Rob Cohen's
action-adventure that also stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez
(Girlfight). PG-13. Movies 12.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Director Kevin
Smith in his screen persona, Silent Bob, co-stars with Jason Mewes
as Jay in this insider comedy. Someone is making a movie about their
lives, and they want money for it. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. See
review.
Jeepers Creepers: Summer shock schlock designed
to scare the pants off teens and other adolescents, despite its rating.
Written and directed by Victor Salva, supernatural thriller stars
Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck and Eileen Brennan. R. Cinemark.
Jurassic Park 3: Sam Neill reprises his role
as paleontologist Grant. Joe Johnston directs. Grant takes a rich
adventurer (William H. Macy) and his wife (Téa Leoni) for a fly-by
of the forbidden island. Lots of dinosaurs! PG-13. Movies 12.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Angelina Jolie plays
the video game action heroine, and Simon West directs. Also stars
Jon Voight and Iain Glen. PG-13. Movies 12.
Legally Blonde: Reese Witherspoon plays a LA
natural blonde who goes to Harvard Law School to persuade Warner (Matthew
Davis) that she's the one for him. Directed by Robert Luketic. Also
stars Selma Blair, Victor Garber, Holland Taylor, Jennifer Coolidge
and Luke Wilson. PG-13. Movies 12. See review.
Moulin Rouge: Director Baz Luhrmann (Strictly
Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet) sets this fabulous dramatic
musical extravaganza in the summer of love, Paris, 1899. Nicole Kidman
and Ewan McGregor make a great romantic pair, and John Leguizamo,
Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh are excellent players. Everybody
wants to work at the all-singing, all-dancing Moulin Rouge shows.
Very highly recommended. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives.
Musketeer, The: Action adventure based on Alexandre
Dumas classic is directed by Peter Hyams stars Catherine Deneuve,
Mena Suvari, Stephen Rhea, Tim Roth and Justin Chambers. Xin Xin Xiong,
choreographer of Once Upon a Time in China, orchestrates fight
sequences. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World.
O Othello: One of summer's most anticipated
films is Tim Blake's contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's famous
tale of treachery and jealousy. Set in elite Southern boarding school,
film stars Mekhi Phifer as the only black student and athelete on
campus, Josh Hartnett as his best friend and Julia Stiles as his girlfriend.
Also, Martin Sheen, Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix and Elden Hensen.
R. Cinemark. See
review.
Original Sin: Angelina Jolie is the possibly
unfaithful wife of Antonio Banderas in this bodice-ripper/thriller.
He's a Cuban coffee impresario in the 1880s, and she's his mail-order
bride. Michael Cristofer writes/directs. R. Movies 12.
Others, The: A haunted Victorian mansion, a
rigid and icy mother (Nicole Kidman) and two special kids who see
things makes this one of the scariest movies made, critics say. Directed
by Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar with style, it's very
highly recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. See review.
Planet of the Apes: Re-imagining of the 1968
original by filmmaker Tim Burton has great makeup and quicker-witted,
stronger apes who act more like real ones. Tim Roth walks away with
the show as the menacing chimpanzee who wants to kill all humans.
Stars Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan,
Paul Giamatti and Tim Roth. PG-13. Cinemark. See review.
Princess Diaries, The: Directed by Garry Marshall,
this comedy about a S.F. teen who finds out she's a princess stars
Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo, Julie Andrews, Robert Schwartzman
and Heather Matarazzo. G. Cinemark.
Rat Race: Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr.
and other desperate folks make fools of themselves looking for a $2
million jackpot hidden somewhere in New Mexico. Directed by Jerry
Zucker of Airplane! fame. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Rock Star: Mark Wahlberg is the ultimate fan
of a heavy metal rock legend, but he also plays with a local tribute
band until the night he's called to replace the lead singer he worships.
Jennifer Aniston is his hometown girlfriend. Stephen Herek directs
John Stockwell's script, based on a true story. Also stars Jason Flemyng,
Timothy Olyphant, Timothy Spall and Dominic West. R. Cinema World.
Cinemark.
Rush Hour 2: Brett Ratner returns to direct
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as detectives who travel to Hong Kong,
LA and Vegas looking for a master criminal. Also stars Zhang Ziyi
(Crouching Tiger, The Road Home). PG-13. Cinemark.
Score, The: This Frank Oz action movie stars
Robert De Niro as a career criminal who breaks his own rule to take
an unknown (Edward Norton) as partner on a heist. Also stars Marlon
Brando, Angela Bassett. Great acting. R. Cinema World. See
review.
Shrek: Computer-animated fairy tale (by DreamWorks'
Pacific Data Images, makers of Antz) stars Mike Myers, Eddie
Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow. Entertaining and funny for
kids and grown-ups. PG. Movies 12. See
review.
Spy Kids: Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) directs
this youth-oriented tale about superspies (Antonio Banderas, Carla
Gugino) who leave the life to marry and have a family. When they're
kidnapped, only their kids can save them. PG. Movies 12.
Summer Catch: Romantic comedy directed by Mike
Tollin stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel. PG-13. Cinemark.
Swordfish: John Travolta plays a C.I.A. spook
who persuades a sexy colleague (Halle Berry) and a hacker (Hugh Jackman)
to help him steal $9 billion. AP reviewer says after the first 10
minutes, this fish begins to smell. Directed by Dominic Sena (Gone
in 60 Seconds). R. Movies 12.
Two Can Play That Game: Shanté (Viveca
A. Fox) gets even when her sweetie (Morris Chestnut) sees another
woman (Gabrielle Union), and she gets a lot of help from her friends
(Mo'Nique, Tamala Jones and Wendy Raquel Robinson). His buddy (Anthony
Anderson) helps him in this romantic comedy directed by Mark Brown.
R. Cinemark.
MOVIE
THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.
Bijou
Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th
Regal
Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River
Center
Springfield Quad 726-9073 |
Cinemark
Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway
Mall
Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days.
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
NEW
RELEASES ON VIDEO:
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following
date of EW publication, sometimes sooner:
Crocodile Dundee in L.A.: Simon Wencer directs the return of the
old Aussie fave played by Paul Hogan, with Linda Kozlowski as the
love interest. PG.
Driven: Sylvester Stallone in a racetrack action
picture directed by Renny Harlin. PG-13. Movies 12.
Someone Like You: Tony Goldwyn directs this
romantic comedy starring Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, Hugh Jackman and
Marisa Tomei. PG-13.
Spy Kids: Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) directs
this youth-oriented tale about superspies (Antonio Banderas, Carla
Gugino) who leave the life to marry and have a family. When they're
kidnapped, only their kids can save them. PG.
Next week: Along Came a Spider, Citizen
Kane, Forsaken, Heartbreakers, Knight's Tale and One Night
at McCools.
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